- Description
Tap Dance America is a reference work of bibliographic information and does not point to digitized versions of the items described. The Library of Congress may or may not own a copy of a particular film or video. To request additional information Ask a Librarian.
See Also:
- Sarah Safford (biography)
- Marion Coles (biography)
- Gregory Hines (biography)
- James "Buster" Brown (biography)
- Harold "Stumpy" Cromer (biography)
- Jane Goldberg (biography)
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The Tapping Talk Show at Top of the Gate / Jane Goldberg [concert]
- Title
- The Tapping Talk Show at Top of the Gate [Concert]
- Performers
- Goldberg, Jane
- Cromer, Harold "Stumpy"
- Wasser, Beverly
- Brown, James "Buster"
- Hines, Gregory
- Burge, Gregg
- Grimes, Chinkie Tate
- Coles, Marion
- Safford, Sarah
- Published/Created
- 1984-03-02
- Genre
- Concert
- Venue
- Top of the Gate, Village Gate
- Abstract
- Top of the Gate, The Tapping Talk Show
Produced by Pamela Koslow and featuring Jane Goldberg, Harold Cromer, James Buster Brown and Charles Honi Coles with a tap-off challenge dance that pitted these veteran dancers against a younger generation of hoofers that included Gregory Hines, Gregg Burge, Hinton Battle, and Benny Clory.
Production, Changing Times Tap Dancing Company; [stage] director, Mercedes Ellington ; [stage] producers, Jane Goldberg and Pamela Koslow. Videotaped in performance at the Top of the Gate, New York, in March 1984. Danced by Buster Brown, Jane Goldberg, Dick Cavett. Participants listed in reviews also include Charles "Cookie" Cook, Marion Coles, Beverly Wasser, Chinkie Tate Grimes, Harold Cromer, Hinton Battle, Gregory Hines, Harold Nicholas, Honi Coles. Musicians listed in reviews: Montego Joe (percussion), Jim Roberts (piano), David Donaley (bass).
Writing about the challenge dance, Sally Sommers in the Village Voice wrote:
"Coles leads off, throwing down a challenge of purring taps. Then comes Cromer, a get-down exuberant paddle-and-roller, followed by tiny Buster Brown who tapped lyrical, rolling lines. Previously, Cookie had done a sand dance, so the older team had set out a variety of styles and meters.
"Hines takes the turf and sensibly dropped the pace. From his first move, you can see that Gregory carries the older generation inside him. Like them, he works close to the floor, hunkered over, catching the crowd with sound. Listening to his feet with his head cocked to the side, he catches a phrase in the making. Whooping with joy, he adds more syncopations and punctuations. He takes his time and carries the audience. With each new phrase, their ecstasy mounts. Between Greg's chattering feet and the thunderous applause, we think he has won.
"But Honi steps out once more. From one moment to the next the audience falls silent, determined to hear each tap. 'I'm not gonna jump around like those young ones,' he announces. An effortless riffle bubbles up from his feet. This time, he extends the syncopation he merely hinted at before, piling one phrase on top of another, shading his dynamics like a master painter. His feet don't move a hair off the floor, yet they croon a percussive syntax that seduces the silent crowd into Honi's world off rhythm.
"He finishes. The audience stands and bursts into applause. And the exuberant and generous Gregory Hines acknowledges the master by swooping down and kissing the floor at his feet."
(Sally Sommer unpublished manuscript circa 1984; Jennifer Dunning, "The Dance: Tapaganza" New York Times March 6, 1984, C 13).
Last Updated: 12-16-2015